The role of evidence in a changing world

Tuesday 21 November 2017 16:00 to 18:30
IDS Convening Space

Many citizens (especially in Africa and Asia) have
been left behind by the growing global economy and technological
innovation. This rising inequality is further advanced by conflict,
insecurity and migration.

In the US, UK and Europe - especially following the
Brexit vote and the Trump presidency - we have seen the policy space
polarised with an increasing suspicion of the objectivity and importance
of experts and advisors; and a particular distrust of governments that
are supposed to act on behalf of those most disenfranchised by
globalisation – whether at home or abroad. Facts, evidence and truth
seem under attack.

So, where next for international development

What hope is there for evidence-based policies amid all the talk of
post-truth politics, fake news and alternative facts? In particular:

How should evaluators respond and stay relevant to those in power?

How might evidence help citizens that are most left behind by globalisation, or most marginalised by politics?

The Centre for Development Impact, a partnership between Itad, IDS and UEA,
has convened a panel of global development experts to discuss these
questions and ask what role evidence should play in this emerging
reality.

About the speakers

Michael Anderson is Visiting
Fellow at the Center for Global Development and a member of the Board at
the Institute of Development Studies. He was previously CEO of the
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and Director General at DFID. In
1999 he co-founded Bazian Ltd, a company specialising in evidence-based
medicine, now part of the Economist Group.

Owen Barder is Vice President,
Director of Center for Global Development Europe. He is also a Visiting
Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. He is a former
civil servant, who worked at No.10, HM Treasury and the Department for
International Development. He has also worked at in the South African Treasury on budget strategy; at Development Initiatives where
he helped to establish the International Aid Transparency Initiative;
and was a visiting scholar in economics at the University of California,
Berkeley.

Claire Melamed is the
Executive Director of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
Data, headquartered in Washington, DC. She is based in London and was
previously a Managing Director at the Overseas Development Institute,
has worked for a number of international NGOs, the United Nations, and
taught at the University of London and the Open University.

Chair

Melissa Leach is the Director of
the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex.
She founded and directed the ESRC STEPS (Social, Technological and
Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre from 2006 to 2014, with
its pioneering pathways approach to innovation, sustainability and
development issues.